Play-based learning has been proven to be an effective method of learning in early childhood education, particularly kindergarten; Nevertheless, increasing emphasis on academics and assessments has had a detrimental effect on students' social-emotional learning (SEL) and learning development (LD).The problem addressed in this study was that play has been omitted from rural schools within Celsur, MS (i.e., southern region of rural Mississippi) early childhood education, specifically kindergarten due to the expectations in meeting common core standards and assessments causing negative impacts on SEL and language development. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study design was to explore rural kindergarten teacher perception of the omission of play within Celsur, MS (i.e., a southern region of rural Mississippi) early childhood education, specifically kindergarten due to meeting common core standards and assessments and its impacts on SEL and language development and their plans to incorporate PBL in the future. The theoretical framework that guided this study is play-based learning. The study was conducted in a rural south Mississippi area called Celsur, MS. The target population included kindergarten teachers or teachers who have taught kindergarten within the past 3 or more years. Purpose sampling was used to recruit the 10 participants within the two districts via email. Two interviews were conducted via zoom and NVIVO 14 was used to analyze the data. The findings indicate that teachers perceived the omission of play to negatively impact kindergarten student's SEL and LD. Based on the study's findings, future research on PBL in ECE classrooms, specifically kindergarten, should be conducted to further investigate how PBL positively affects a child's learning, growth, and development in multiple areas to open the research up to more participants to identify and confirm current findings. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]